Science Class

ARTICLES ABOUT SCIENCE CLASS BY DATE - PAGE 5

by CHRISTINA M. PARKER (A free-lance story for The Morning Call) | March 6, 1997

What do young people think about current events? What are their hopes, their fears, their fantasies? How do they deal with the events that confront them in daily life? In this Neighbors feature, free-lance reporter Christina M. Parker asks them. Quakertown Elementary School Whom would you invite to a sleep-over party? Carolyn Metzger Age 10 I'd probably invite Mariah Carey, because I like to sing, too. I'm in chorus, and I'll probably do a solo this year.

Trying to figure out why U.S. students lag behind their counterparts in many other countries in math and science, a new international study criticizes American instruction in those fields as "a mile wide and an inch deep." Based on an analysis of 1,000 textbooks and teaching guides used in 45 countries, the study by the National Science Foundation found that U.S. schools teach too many math and science concepts, and cover them too superficially. These deficiencies stem, in part, from an over-reliance on wideranging textbooks, which -- in the absence of a national curriculum -- exert profound influence on teachers and instruction, the study found.

Harry Everhart is back. Maybe. Panther Valley School Board last night reinstated the suspended middle school teacher with back pay. Everhart has until Aug. 9 to decide on the offer. School officials in May 1994 suspended Everhart without pay after he allegedly used lewd language in class. He was later cleared by a state arbitrator, who in May 1995 ordered him reinstated with back pay and benefits. As of February, Everhart, a teacher for 25 years, figured the district owed him $100,000 to $150,000 in salary and benefits.

The lawyer for Panther Valley Middle School teacher Harry Everhart, suspended without pay in May 1994 after allegedly using lewd language in class, wants the district to put its money where its mouth is. "In all likelihood, I'm going to request that this district post a bond in an amount equal to or greater than the amount it owes Mr. Everhart," Pennsylvania State Education Association lawyer Charles Herring said Friday. "The school district is being vindictive toward Mr. Everhart.

The annual Fourth Grade Egg Drop will be at 1 p.m. Tuesday at the Sheckler School, Catasauqua. The pupils will design a container intended to prevent an egg from breaking from a drop of more than 100 feet. The event is a culmination of the study of flight in science class. The Catasauqua Fire Department will assist with the event. The public is invited to view the pupils' projects as well as the fire equipment. Patrick Callahan, a physics and physical science teacher at Catasauqua High School, recently participated in the National Science Teachers Association's 43rd national convention in Philadelphia.

First they didn't want teens packing pistols. Then they said kindergartners couldn't carry a firecracker, even if it's a dud. Now some Bethlehem Area School Board members have the rifle team in their cross hairs, along with the color guard, archery and fencing classes and even the district's scalpel-wielding, frog-dissecting science students. The board adopted a zero tolerance weapons policy Monday night that calls for expulsion of any student bringing a gun or explosive to school.

Shanarah Duggan tip-toed down the mucky path beside the Monocacy Creek in Bethlehem yesterday, trying but failing to keep the mud off her new black shoes and white socks. A classmate accidentally brushed a slimy skimming net full of bugs against Shanarah's black lace top. "Ehhhhh," said the 14-year-old student from Nitschmann Middle School. "I'm getting so dirty." Across the path, 15-year-old Mollie Byrd was busy catching butterflies with her net. "I love science class. I could take it all day," she said.

Three Boyertown Area School District students were awarded prizes recently for their essays on "What Would You Do to Save the Earth?" The awards, provided by Washington Township Supervisor Joseph Wolfgang, were presented at Earth Day ceremonies in the junior and senior high schools. Keith Schoenly, son of Mr. and Mrs. Elwood Schoenly of Bally, won a $100 prize for the best essay by a high school student. He is a member of William Rohrbach's chemistry class. At Junior High East, seventh-grader Jade Doskow, a student in Donald Losch's life science class, received a $50 prize for her winning essay.

Students head back to the classroom in the Quakertown and Pennridge school districts tomorrow. In Quakertown, "everything seems to be ready to go," said Joan Noblit, district spokeswoman. Some Quakertown students arriving to classes will notice that "Drug Free School Zone" signs have been put up outside the high school, Strayer Middle School and Quakertown, Neidig and Richland elementary schools. Dr. Jeffrey Miller, administrative assistant for curriculum, said there will be changes forsome students.